Interview: DUSTIN LYNCH, C2C Country 2 Country, London

Read on for a sneak peek into the press conferences with main stage acts that happen at C2C Country 2 Country 2019 (Read my review of that here!) We caught up with Dustin Lynch to discuss the dumbest songs he's ever written, playing for UK audiences, and his hats for every occasion - enjoy!

Q: You’re from Tennessee, and somewhere I’ve never heard of. Is it a small place you’re from?

Dustin Lynch (DH): It is, but we’re really good at making whiskey.

Q: You released three new songs recently – how was that?

DH: It’s very cool to see how it ended up. It was very scary at first but it’s now been long enough to see the reaction online.

Q: Is this a sign there’s a new album on the way?

DH: I’m not sure. We had these songs ready to go, especially since Good Girl exploded towards the end of the year. We have a few more songs we’re working on that I don’t know when we’re going to release, but I would love to do another chapter of music. Obviously we’re not going to rush things and I’m on tour with Thomas Rhett all year but we’re off to a good start.

Q: You’ve had a whole run of number one records. It’s strange times in America because some of these records stay on the radio for ages, but we’re in a new world where if you want to put out three or four songs, you can.

DH: Yeah, technology has changed things a lot. It’s tough to say ‘I’m going to not tour and do an album’ – that’s really hard for me to do because I live to be on the road and on stage, so it’s great we can record songs as we write them and as we’re excited about them, and have this little bit of music rather than one big chunk.

Q: And just for C2C, you’ve released three songs just like that!

DH: That’s right!

Q: I’m part of a linedancing community, and the most popular song of yours for us is She Cranks My Tractor.

DH: Which, by the way, is the dumbest song I’ve ever written! But it is my most popular linedancing song. Even yesterday in Dublin, my band was out to get a beer before my show and there was a group of people next to them talking about how they like to linedance to She Cranks My Tractor. It’s a phenomenon. We kind of wrote that song as a joke and it went on to be my second single and we still play it ever now and then.

Q: I watch your vlog and I think it’s quite hilarious and awesome – what was the inspiration behind starting a vlog?

DH: My inspiration to do it is that I was scared to death bringing people into my personal life, and I like challenges. We’ve done a really good job of showing everyone of what it was like onstage and even and little backstage but we wanted to flip the script on me and change things up, so decided to do everyday life stuff too. We discovered very quickly that we enjoyed it because what I do is so fast paced – I have to sit back and go ‘that was only a week ago?!’ Now that we have it all documented, it’s great to go back every now and then and watch what my crew puts together and remember all the amazing things that we get to do, and the amazing people we get to meet.

Q: Are there any British artists or songwriters that really influence or move you?

DH: That’s tough to say. I think just basically rhythm guitar – I never took guitar lessons but hearing those over and over again is how I learned it, and everyone who played that influenced those who grew up with them. Without having a guitar lesson and learning guitar to that type of music has influenced how I write.

Q: Do you have any plans to come to the UK to do headlining tours?

DH: I absolutely do. This is kind of my first toe in the water and we wanted to come over and say hello to everybody, but the intention is to come back as soon as we can and start building from the ground up. I wanted to come over here for years and years and finally we found the chance to do it, so expect more of me over the coming months and years.

Q: This is a good place to start.

DH: Well, I’ve realised that travelling from miles away, it’s a pretty easy commute from Nashville!

Q: You’ve written with a lot of Nashville heavyweights – what is it like to get in a room with these guys?

DH: They’re just really lucky! It’s wonderful. Crazily enough, Rhett Akins and I started writing forever ago, I’m talking right when I got a record deal. The reason we have so much success together, even if I’m not in the room, is because we grew up the same way and we care about the same things. We do the same things when we’re not in the studio or on the road. Now we’ve been doing this about ten years together, it just comes natural. All the writers have been to so many shows that they know what I want to say and the energy I want on stage, and that just takes a lot of the guesswork out when it comes to finding the right fit of a song, melody and lyric. There’s no first date jitters with those guys. For me, that would be why I think we have success together. They’re all unbelievably talented guys and I get to call them friends and mentors.

Q: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever written a song about or strangest writing process you’ve had?

DH: Okay, dumbest song ever – She Cranks My Tractor. Strangest place I’ve written is probably a random bathroom somewhere! There’s good reverb there. I was coming up with a lot of song ideas when I was mowing yards in Nashville so that would be another pretty strange place to write a song. Melodies come to me whenever I’m doing something mindless than that. Other than She Cranks My Tractor, a song that comes to mind is a song title called I Wanna Make You Wanna Make A Baby. That’s way up there with most ridiculous thing I’ve written lyrics about. We did not record that song.

Q: Do you have different hats for different occasions?

DH: I do! I have a whole room of hats.

Q: Which hat is this?

DH: Honestly I got so excited last night on stage that I went to throw this hat and then realised it was the only one I brought over. I go through these hats pretty often because I sweat a whole lot on stage. They’re like sporting gear, you can only wear them so long.

Q: Who would you like to duet with, and why?

DH: Reba McEntire. One, because I’ve had a crush on her since I could walk, and two, because she’s one of the most amazing singers, three, because she’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life, and four, she just inducted me into the Grand Old Opry.

Q: Will it happen?

DH: Ask Reba. That’s not really a phone call I can make!

Q: Kenny Chesney is also quite an inspiration for you. Have you done much with him?

DH: I haven’t. He’s been the one guy I still want to hang out with and get to know. In passing, we’ve shook hands at awards shows and stuff, but I haven’t had the chance to do much yet.

Q: Your first time in the UK and you’re playing the iconic O2 – what are your thoughts on that?

DH: On the way over, me and my band guys were just like ‘is this real?’ I can’t wait to walk up on stage and look up. Back in the States, it doesn’t matter who’s playing the O2, we see it. It’s that big of a deal, whether it’s a country act or not, it makes social media, it makes headlines. It always looks so epic so I’m so glad we get the opportunity to play. My one goal tonight is to put on a great show that people have a great time at and make a memory at, and then we want to come back and do it again. 

I hope you enjoyed reading Dustin Lynch's press conference! What was your favourite question asked? Drop me a message in the comments below and make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for more interviews and reviews coming soon - thanks for reading!

Interview: LADY ANTEBELLUM, C2C Country 2 Country 2019, London

Wonder what goes on behind the scenes at big festivals like C2C Country 2 Country? (You can read my review here) Well, wonder no more as I give you a sneak peek into the headliner press conference with Lady Antebellum - read on to hear their thoughts on playing for UK audiences, what they did before this whole music thing, and why taking some time off from each other was the best thing for the band. 

Q: It is so good to have you back here in the UK. The first time you came, you played at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and you’ve had success on the radio, especially with this new audience we did know who were out there – young people! It’s a relatively small venue but you kicked something off – C2C started, we’ve now got so many acts touring here, and you can take a lot of the credit.

Hillary Scott (HS): Thank you for saying that. That’s extremely humbling and we feel like we’re following in the footsteps of a lot of country artists who’ve gone before us and paved the way. It was just so important for us as a band to get over here. It was really encouraged by our management and our label, we had so much support from our label here that it’s just been such a beautiful relationship that we feel like we’ve been able to build.

Q: With all the music you have out now, you have too many songs to play live in one show. What do you miss playing live from previous albums that you don’t get to play anymore?

Charles Kelley (CK): Oh man. We’ve tweaked our setlist over here specifically because, even from the first show at Shepherd’s Bush, we found that the fans are so invested. They’re not passive fans, they’re very active. They know all the songs off the records. That’s one of the most refreshing things. When we came over here in the beginning, we didn’t have a tremendous amount of hits yet and it didn’t matter. They were singing all of the album tracks. We tried to dig in and pull up some songs we haven’t played in a long time. We’re doing When You Got A Good Thing. We haven’t played Hello World in a while and we’re pulling that back out. We say all the time, it’s a very musically artistic listener over here, and we appreciate that.

Dave Haywood (DH): We were talking about putting the setlist together, and when we come here we feel we have the freedom to play those songs from previous records, we’re trying out some new ones too. It’s fun for us. We’ve just cut six songs in the studio back in Nashville. Thanks to you guys and the fans for giving us the freedom to do what we love.

Q: I’m sure at this point you must have had hundreds of press conferences and interviews, but is there one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but would love to be?

HS: Ooh, that question! That’s a really good question.

CK: It’s always ‘what’s your favourite band?’ so maybe ‘what’s your least favourite band?’

Q: How about something nobody knows about you three?

CK: In this social media world, we share everything.

HS: I feel like this might be on social media already, but I’d love for everyone to know what your first job was out of college.

DH: I was an accountant. I’m not super proud of that one.

CK: I’m not very proud that I’m 6 foot 6 and I can’t dunk a basketball. I don’t think people stop me anymore because I’m that guy from Lady Antebellum, they stop me and say ‘you’re so tall! Are you a famous basketball player?’ And I’m like ‘No, I can’t jump’.

HS: I was an American Football manager in High School, all four years. I was a water girl. Not a lot of people know that.

Q: You did a Radiohead song at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, did you not?

CK: Oh yeah, High And Dry.

Q: Could you tell us about the school you were going to play at where a tornado took the school out. I think you helped put it back together again.

HS: I lived through a tornado that hit in 1998 in Nashville – it did a lot of damage in my neighbourhood, so it’s something that we always try and give back with our platform. We saw that this really terrible tornado ripped through this town in Henryville and destroyed this high school and it was going to mean they weren’t going to be able to have their Prom. We decided to come play a show there in the arena closest to that town and throw them a Prom. They all got dressed up in their dresses and tuxedos, we had a DJ, and we showed up and played a couple of songs. We wanted to make sure that they didn’t not have that memory made for them because it’s such an important part of high school.

Q: On the last album, it felt like you were really exploring your sound and pushing yourself. With the new material, can we expect more surprises and boundary pushing?

CK: I can safely say that with this we’re getting back to more of the sound of the first record. That’s a natural thing, it tugs and pushes. The type of material we’ve been writing is a little deeper. We’ve been going through so many changes with our families growing, and even as a band. I know specifically myself, I’ve been really getting back in touch with my spirituality which was kind of being pushed aside for a while, so there’s some songs about that and my search and journey. It’s definitely a bit deeper and warmer than the last record.

HS: Pushing lyrical boundaries.

CK: Trying to be more honest.

HS: And vulnerable.

Q: Will you be putting out a single first before the whole album?

CK: We’re probably going to let out a single while we finish up the record. We’re going to try out some stuff tonight on you guys, and if the reaction’s bad, maybe we’ll can it.

Q: Hillary, you’re such an inspiration for women in the industry and in general. What’s it like to be such an icon?

HS: Well, that’s extremely humbling, thank you. I have to say, before I was a mum, I have an 18 year old sister; I tried to really live my life in a way that would make her proud, and now that’s amplified times three with daughters at home. I’ve been so blessed with great, great women in my life who have inspired and taught me, my mum being the main one. If I can just walk and exude half of the amount of kindness that comes from her on a daily basis, I know I’m doing something right. I try to really learn from others and I think that’s the best thing we can do as women, is support each other, learn from each other, and be mindful of one another.

Q: You made the move to Big Machine recently, so tell us about that, and please tell me Hello World is in the setlist tonight.

CK: It is in the setlist.

DH: We had a point where we worked early in our career with a guy named Jimmy Hardin, and it was a bit of a reunion for that reason. We were out there searching for a home that will continue to push us. Internally, what we do remains the same in terms of how we write and record and make our music, but I’m excited. It feels like a fresh new start for us. We have freedom here to play a lot of stuff, we’ve got a lot of freedom from the label to write what we want to write and cut what we want to write. We’re thrilled to be with Big Machine.

CK: It definitely is fresh energy and perspective too. We sat down and said ‘what are your impressions of us, and where we have gone wrong or could do better,’ because we’ve always tried to focus on the music, and they were really supportive and encouraging for us to really get in there and take our time, and be a little more honest with this music. It felt refreshing to hear that. I do think if you’re honest as an artist, after early success, there does tend to sink in a little bit this fear of losing it, and you start to lose a little bit of what you got into it for. I can say that this is the most confident the past two-three years that we’ve been as a band in a long time, and it comes from being settled in your life and knowing that if you fail, it’s not the end of the world.

HS: We’ve said it so much. We’ve felt all along our musical journey that we’ve been extremely authentic and sticking to who we are, but we’ve also lived a lot of life in the twelve years we’ve been a band. It’s getting real real on this record!

Q: In the past you’ve taken some time away from each other to do solo projects but you always come back together. How important is that time to explore on your own – how crucial is it to the success of the band?

CK: One of the main reasons we took some time off is because we were just together the whole time for a good nine years, I think we just naturally needed to get off the hamster wheel for a bit. I can say it made me appreciate how much I need this band. There were so many times I was on stage by myself and thinking not having Dave or Hillary here to do this part felt that it wasn’t the same calibre of a project, but it was fun to do. It pushed myself and honestly there were some songs on the solo project that were really more honest and made me say ‘when I come back in with this group and we start writing for these next records, I want to bring a little of that in’. Hillary had the same with her faith based record, there are a couple of songs on this record that are just so moving in a spiritual way that I feel she brought in from that.

HS: We started out as a creative writing team of songwriters, and quickly became a band and started playing shows and have never looked back. We’re songwriters and artists first, and we’ve always said if there’s ever anything the three of us want to pursue individually, we give the blessing because it’s one of those things where you’re going to come back a better version of yourselves, so it’s more important for us longterm to be true to who we are for ourselves and for each other. And we did, we came back so appreciative and grateful for the career that we’ve been able to build and the fans, and a deeper sense of gratitude that I think we would have ever had before.

Q: You’re one of the bands that have really transcended into pop, and I wondered what the word country music means to you today.

HS: For me personally, country music is stories – real stories that are sung and performed in a particular way. For me, growing up, the best example I have is Keith Urban and his song You’ll Think Of Me – I remember sitting in my room listening to that song over and over and over. I had the biggest crush on this guy who didn’t like me back, and it just expressed how I felt in a much better way than I ever could have expressed it in my own words. That’s what country music is. It’s songs, whether they’re about having a good time with your friends or your deepest most longing heartbreak, they express how you feel when you can’t.

Q: Is there anything you’re particularly excited about that you get from British audiences that you don’t experience in the US or anywhere else?

DH: It’s so much fun being here. I feel like you have the fans in the palm of your hand. In the States, sometimes we’re fighting to keep their attention and engagement, but I feel here we can go on a journey, walk through a five minute song like Hello World and have people go along with you. When people talk about where’s your favourite place in the world, we talk about London, Sydney, LA – this is top one or two places that we get to play. It’s a real honour to play here, and for that reason we feel like we can do what we want to do, and the fans go along with you on that journey. It’s so much fun to be here – this is probably our third or fourth time playing here and it’s my favourite in the world. 

I hope you enjoyed reading the Lady Antebellum press conference! What was your favourite question asked? Drop me a message in the comments below and make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for more interviews and reviews coming soon - thanks for reading! 

Interview: MEGAN O'NEILL, C2C Country 2 Country 2019, London

 I first interviewed UK country star Megan O'Neill way back in 2016 (you can read that interview here) so obviously a lot has changed since! I caught up with her at C2C Country 2 Country 2019 in London (check that out here) to discuss creating an album on her own, her favourite country artists, and what she wishes fans would bring to her shows - read on!

Ciara’s Country (CC): Hi Megan, thanks for taking the time to talk to me! So the last time we spoke was at Nashville Meets London in 2016.

Megan O’Neill (MO): That’s so long ago!

CC: It’s great to see that you’re still a big name in UK country music and popping up at every festival. How has it been growing within the genre over the past few years?

MO: It’s been really great. I think it’s been amazing to see country music grow in the UK. I’ve been really fortunate to be a part of that, and know and be friends with a lot of artists in the industry and see them grow as well. I’m really grateful to still be doing what I’m doing.

CC: How have you grown in the time you’ve been playing country music?

MO: So much! I think my first EP I released in 2015 was so different to what I’m doing now, and I think that’s kind of natural. You’re going to grow as an artist, you’re going to develop as a songwriter, you’re going to be going through different things in your life and want to write about different things. It’s been really great to explore other instrumentation and working with other people like producers, songwriters and the like. The new stuff is definitely quite different, but it is still in that core country genre, probably just more alternative country, whereas my first EP was country-pop, my second EP was country-blues, the album was probably I-don’t-really-know country! This stuff is definitely more alternative country.

CC: Of course 2018 was a big year for you with Ghost For You – what was it like putting that out into the world?

MO: It was really terrifying if I’m honest. It was my first full-length solo album, I’d just left Megan and the Common Threads which had been a project I’d been working on for two years, and it was a real learning curve for me. I made that album without a band, without a team, without a manager, without a label, without an agent; so it was an awful lot of figuring out how to do it on my own. But I’m really proud of that record and it’s gone down really well. It went to number one on the singer songwriter charts, and has allowed me to tour as much as I’ve toured in the last eighteen months. I’m really proud of it, and really happy that it’s out in the world.

CC: You covered it a bit there, but what were the best and worst parts of producing an album?

MO: Oh, man, so many! The worst part is definitely the expense, especially when you’re doing it all yourself. You don’t want to fall short on an album because you don’t want to pay for X, Y and Z; if you’re going to put it out there, you want it to be the best it can possibly be which costs more as the days go on. The financial aspect of it was really difficult. Also just simple things like the running order on the album, and how the songs are going to gel together; and the legal stuff behind registering it. That’s tough. But the good always outweighs the bad, that’s why we all stay in this industry. There’s been so many good things that have happened in the process of making it. I made it out in America, and working with the writers was a great experience. I don’t know if I can pinpoint a best bit.

CC: So the running order was a conscious decision?

MO: It was so hard! At the end I just threw my hands up in the air like ‘I don’t know!’ and just put things where I thought they made sense. I won’t do that again because I think the running order is so important in an album and you have to be really particular about the running order because one song is not going to make sense behind another song. There were a lot of different songs on Ghost Of You that could have been in various different genres so the running order was quite important. I’m not sure I nailed it, but people go on Spotify and press shuffle anyway so it doesn’t really matter.

CC: Very true! So, turning to C2C, how has that been?

MO: Really great so far. I just did my first set at the Big Entrance stage this morning and have my next set this afternoon at the Icon stage. There’s a really good crowd here. We played three new songs I haven’t played before and the response was really good. I’m excited for the next set.

CC: Do you have a favourite song to perform live?

MO: Oh my God, no. I think it depends on my mood, the crowd, whether you’re playing to a festival audience or an intimate room of a hundred people, it always varies. I definitely have some favourites though.

CC: Give me a few examples.

MO: I love playing Let’s Make One Up because it’s got a really nice groove. I love playing Ghost Of You when it’s full band because the chorus is so big. I love playing Girl Crush because it has a really nice groove to it as well.

CC: Do you have any pre-show rituals?

MO: I should! I try and just get myself into a really relaxed state and do a lot of breathing, which is completely impossible at C2C because you have ten minute changeover! At least at regular gigs you have a soundcheck for an hour, and then you have an hour to chill and change. Like, if you want to have a glass of wine or a hot lemon and honey, you can. At C2C, it’s like ‘go, go, go! Get on the stage!’ So the rituals go out the window.

CC: Well I find festivals like this a great place for fans to discover new artists.

MO: Oh yeah!

CC: Is there anybody you think people should be listening to at the moment?

MO: Everything that’s coming out of UK country. I know I’m biased because this is where I’m based, but at Country 2 Country, I feel the American artists get the most attention and I don’t necessarily think that’s very fair. Jake Morrell and Lisa Wright and Laura Oakes are three of my very good friends and also three very good musicians who really deserve the attention. A lot of people are coming to Country 2 Country and seeing the American artists and forgetting there’s homegrown talent here that’s really, really good. If people like country music, they should check out what’s in their home and give that a listen.

CC: You and Laura performed together at The Long Road, didn’t you?

MO: Yeah, we’ve performed together a number of times, as have Lisa and I, and Jake and I. We all collaborate a lot because we all started at the same time. We’re good friends.

CC: Well, I hope there’s more of that coming.

MO: Yeah, loads more of that coming!

CC: And what about the rest of 2019?

MO: It’s shaping up to be really busy which is great. There’s lots of touring, some shows in the US, working on new material. We’re going to be releasing the first single in May and then a few singles before the end of the year, and then the next album will be early 2020. I’m trying to take it one week at a time and not lose my mind. It’s all shaping up to be really great.

CC: Were the new ones some of the ones you played today?

MO: We played two new ones off the album and Girl Crush which we hadn’t performed live before. They were received really well.

CC: That’s a good sign! Final question: what’s one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but would love to be?

MO: Oh my God, that’s so hard! What’s my favourite coffee, so people can always come and buy it for me? Or my favourite type of red wine? They’re two of my favourite things in life.

CC: What are the answers then?

MO: Oat milk latte or Pinot Noir red wine.   

CC: I expect you’ll have them on your riders for future shows.

MO: One hundred percent!

CC: Brilliant, thank you so much! 

I hope you enjoyed today's interview! Feel free to drop me a message in the comments below and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry to stay up to date on new interviews and reviews coming soon - thanks for reading!